Hi, I've had an old Edirol UA-25 audio interface which has done the job for me for a number of years, but when I upgraded to High Sierra the drivers didn't work anymore, at all, and it stopped being supported on PC with Windows 10 a while back. So, I am after a replacement.

I like the compact 2 in/2out, USB bus powered thing. I'm after some nice quality preamps, digital in and midi in/out too. The limiter/compressor features that are sometimes offered I'd honestly trade for a simpler, higher-qualty device.

I'm a bit out of the loop nowadays and reviews seem so mixed for all the ones I've looked at so far. Would love your opinions.

If budget's an issue I bought an M-Audio M-Track 2X2M costing £90 as a direct replacement for a UA25. It's not on my main computer which uses UAD kit but for the uses I make of it (digitising LPs, playback over my domestic hifi and stuff like that) it's excellent. The M stands for Midi.

The Zoom U-44 fits the bill as far as MIDI, line level and digital I/O is concerned but the mic preamps are a little noisy. If mic preamps are important I'd look at Audient and add a separate MIDI interface or, if this is going to be your main interface, I'd be looking at stepping up to an RME interface - possibly a used one rather than new as RME are good at supporting older models.

If you want an interface with really low preamp noise, huge gain (up to 96dB), you might want to take a look at the Sound Devices MixPre-3, -6 or -10. They also can be used as standalone mixers and 12-track overdubbing recorders. Full disclosure - I work for Sound Devices, so take this with a pinch of salt:)

Paul Isaacs wrote:If you want an interface with really low preamp noise, huge gain (up to 96dB), you might want to take a look at the Sound Devices MixPre-3, -6 or -10. They also can be used as standalone mixers and 12-track overdubbing recorders. Full disclosure - I work for Sound Devices, so take this with a pinch of salt:)

Just in case anyone was thinking of getting one, I bought an Apogee Element 24 and it is superb. It integrates with Logic beautifully. Input and Output settings/levels can all be adjusted from my Mac. It's a no nonsense TB3 interface and I am delighted with it. What's even better is it has ADAT In and Out so if I ever need to expand my I/O it's easily sorted.